uptake
Americannoun
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apprehension; understanding or comprehension; mental grasp.
quick on the uptake.
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an act or instance of taking up; a lifting.
the uptake of fertilizer by machines.
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Also called take-up. Machinery. a pipe or passage leading upward from below, as for conducting smoke or a current of air.
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Physiology. absorption.
noun
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a pipe, shaft, etc, that is used to convey smoke or gases, esp one that connects a furnace to a chimney
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mining another term for upcast
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taking up or lifting up
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the act of accepting or taking up something on offer or available
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informal quick to understand or learn
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informal slow to understand or learn
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of uptake
Vocabulary lists containing uptake
The Water Cycle - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Scientists had previously suspected that carbon uptake and tree growth were not always synchronized, but there had been too few detailed observations to fully understand why.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
Roughly 26 percent of the trees' yearly carbon uptake happened after growth had ceased.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
Evan Seigerman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, pegs the near-term opportunity at roughly $3 billion a year in added sales, assuming modest uptake.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Even once it goes live July 1, “operationalization of the program could slow uptake as patients are formally brought into the system,” Seigerman said in the client note.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Far too late, Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
"Basically, these are all just different systems of encapsulating your molecule so that the bodily more readily uptakes it," Boyar says.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2023
Tower Hamlets has seen one of the lowest uptakes of vaccines in the UK throughout the pandemic.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2022
Both Iberian countries have high vaccine uptakes, with close to 90% of people eligible for the jabs receiving them.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
Italy has one of the highest vaccine uptakes in the world with 80% of the population having received either one or two jabs, while around 15% of people have had a booster shot.
From Reuters ● Dec. 6, 2021
The uptakes from each boiler are constructed of 3/8-inch plate and each is lined with radial hollow brick 4 inches thick.
From The New York Subway Its Construction and Equipment by Anonymous
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
